A recent study in August 2011 shows steady growth in the modern U.S. publishing industry — capturing its size, scope, revenue and rapid strategic expansion across multiplatform content and sales distribution channels. Spanning 2008-2010, BookStats offers data and analysis of the total industry and the individual Trade, K-12 School, Higher Education, Professional and Scholarly markets. Produced jointly by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group, its highlights include:
Overall U.S. publishing revenues are growing — Publishers’ net sales revenue has grown annually; 2010’s $27.94 Billion is a 5.6% increase over 2008.
Overall U.S. publishing unit sales are up as well — Publishers’ 2.57 Billion net units sold in 2010 represent a 4.1% increase since 2008.
Americans, young and old, are reading actively in all print and digital formats — 2010 total net sales revenue in the consumer-focused Trade market is $13.94 Billion, increasing 5.8% since 2008 (and excluding 2011’s e-book sales surge). Both Adult Fiction and Juvenile (non-fiction and fiction) have seen consistent annual gains.
Education publishing holds steady and, in some segments, shows solid growth — Higher Education’s $4.5 Billion net sales revenue for 2010 represents a significant 23.1% increase over 2008. K-12 School, the industry’s second largest category by net sales dollar volume, reached $5.5 Billion revenue in 2010.
Professional and Scholarly publishing shows gains — The Professional market’s $3.7 Billion net sales revenue was +6.3% over 2008. Scholarly publishing experienced 4.7% growth since 2008, with $191 Million net sales revenue for 2010.
“This study indicates that the publishing industry is healthy and growing during a time of unprecedented change.”